


Echoes

by Lune_qui_vit_dans_ses_Reves



Series: Memories are timeless treasures of the heart [2]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel
Genre: F/M, Memory Loss, essentially canon compliant, returning memories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:07:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26754814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lune_qui_vit_dans_ses_Reves/pseuds/Lune_qui_vit_dans_ses_Reves
Summary: Echoes of time, echoes of memories long forgotten. Jemma knows that they’ve never had a little girl aboard the Zephyr, so why does she keep seeing her?What exactly was Jemma remembering before the time drive was damaged and she had to ask Enoch to fix DIANA?Companion piece to Memories of Us.
Relationships: Leo Fitz & Jemma Simmons, Leo Fitz/Jemma Simmons
Series: Memories are timeless treasures of the heart [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1948840
Comments: 3
Kudos: 26





	Echoes

**Author's Note:**

> Hello again! This was technically written before the series finale, but I never got around to posting it… After the finale aired and Memories of Us was written, I realized that the two stories really could work hand in hand, so this one was reworked to better fit in with that story and universe. You don't need to read Memories of Us to understand what's happening in this one - they're stand alone stories - but the two work together add a bit more depth to the world. There are also certain things which are mentioned and explained in Memories of Us. I hope you enjoy this!

_Mama! Look! I can fly the Zephyr just like May!_

_Mama, what’s that star’s name?_

_Mama, Daddy says that there are places with real monkeys. Can we go one day?_

_Mama, Mama, Mama. Don’t go. Please, don’t go. Please!_

_Mama!_

* * *

Jemma Simmons knew she had a problem. She was forgetting things that she should remember and seeing things that were impossible. At first, they were only at night – dreams of things she could easily claim never happened – and really, they were sweet dreams of what could have been. Dreams of things she wished could have happened. Dreams of a life with…

But they were only dreams. Imaginary images her mind had created in order to provide some hint of comfort as she and the team fought the Chronicoms for their world, their lives, their loved ones. Chasing them through time and seeing places in time she could have only read about prior to this.

And for that, she welcomed them.

Welcomed the dreams of what could have been as she fell into bed, exhausted by the day’s events and sleep drew her under.

But then they came during the day. Her reality mixing and becoming one with that of her dreams. Echoes of things she knew had never happened during any of their time on the Zephyr and yet, things she could see so clearly in her mind’s eye.

Every time she looked at the cockpit, she could swear she saw a little girl sitting in the pilot’s seat pretending to fly and claiming she’d be the best pilot ever and that she couldn’t wait to show May. Smile so broad on her face as she stared up with her with such adoration that made Jemma gasp and stole her breath away. That little girl. But that was impossible. Never in any of her adventures with Shield had they had such a little girl on the Bus or on the Zephyr for that matter. She knew that there was Robin, but this little one looked nothing like Robin, not had Robin ever looked up at her like that and caused her heart to ache with the desire to pull her into her arm and hold her close.

She tried to ignore them and focus on everything that had to be done, but the echoes kept appearing.

Walking through the Loading Bay, she would blink and look down and all of a sudden there was the same little girl standing next to her begging her to time how fast she could run around the room because she wanted to show Yo-yo how fast she could run. The little girl would reach up, her hand tugging on her own and she could feel the softness of that little hand in hers, so tiny and yet, so right. Staring up at her with eyes so blue. Just as blue as –

_Time me, Mama! I’ll be fast, just like Auntie Yo-Yo!_

And it was the same on the Command Bridge. She would turn her head to ask Daisy a question and, in her place, she’d see the little girl. But instead of the blue pinafore Jemma had seen her in time and time again, she’d be dressed in all black with silver bracelets around her wrists. There she’d stand in a manner that almost perfectly mirrored Daisy when she went on the offense and such a serious expression on her face that it was all she could do to try and keep from laughing. She might not know who she was, but she somehow knew that the little girl was rarely able to be that serious.

“Jemma, you okay?” Daisy’s voice cut through the fog and startled Jemma out of the echo.

Looking around and realizing that the little girl had once again disappeared, Jemma moved to stand next to Daisy, the original question lost to time. “Of course, Daisy. Why do you ask?”

“You just looked like you saw a ghost.” Came the response and a concerned look.

_I’m a hero, Mama. Just like Aunt Daisy and just like you!_

But these echoes or, perhaps the better term being ghosts, were simply that.

Or so she told herself. The mind never truly forgets memories. They can be buried or hidden, but never truly forgotten. So, the fact that she could clearly imagine everything? She had a problem and needed to fix it – quickly. Or, as quickly as she could once the team had a moment to breathe.

In her heart, she knew the truth. While she had no idea where the echoes came from, she dreaded the idea of losing them more than she worried about why she had them in the first place. The idea of asking Enoch to fix DIANA and knowing that once he did, everything would disappear once more caused her to feel as if her heart had been ripped out and such guilt that all she could do was try and not break down in tears and beg for forgiveness. Every time she thought of it, her mind would fly to the stars and she’d feel the gentlest weight in her arms, someone pressing their tiny face to her neck; something so foreign and yet so right. As she lay down to sleep, she’d feel the urge to whisper stories which told of happily ever afters. Of lessons learned and things she desperately wanted the little girl to know in the future. Of adventures she and Fitz and the team had gone on and everything they had ever seen. Of Fitz and… Fitz… How her heart ached for him.

Those were the echoes she hated the most. Dreams – thankfully they only came while she was sleeping as she didn’t know how she could ever stand it if she saw them during the day – of what might have been. Of Fitz holding a bundle of blankets in one arm as he sat beside her in bed, his other arm wrapped tightly around her shoulders, his face full of warmth and amazement and love. Of whispered promises that everything would be okay and that they would give her the stars and the heavens, the earth and the sky. Of standing with a smile on her face, as she watched Fitz chase the little girl around and around the command bay before picking her up and swinging her onto his back. Of sitting at the bedside of the little girl as she drifted off to sleep, the stars cradling her, and writing down letter after letter of things she wanted so desperately for the little girl to know.

After those dreams – and they had to be dreams because she would never leave her child, her everything, behind – she would without fail, run down the hall to where she could see the sky and the stars. Her eyes would trace the constellations as they had when she herself was a little girl and her father would bring her outside to stare up at them until they fell on her favorite constellation. _Theta Serpentis_ whose brightest star was name Alya. _Alya_. Such a beautiful name. She didn’t know who the little girl was or why she kept seeing her, but she was important. That much she did know.

And then the Lighthouse happened.

The Lighthouse fired on the Zephyr and the time drive was damaged as a result. She didn’t want to forget. Oh, how she didn’t want to forget, but she needed to remember. She needed to remember how to fix the time drive if she ever had any chance of remembering who the little girl was or seeing her again or any hopes that those beautiful and heartbreaking dreams of Fitz with their child would ever come true.

And so, she did.

As she sat down with Enoch behind her, ready to reposition DIANA so that she could remember exactly what needed to be done to fix the time drive and complete their mission, she couldn’t help but glance over at Deke. Deke who stood off to the side, eyes wide with amazement and worry, not fully sure if he should be concerned or stunned by the technology that could help her remember. Yet as she smiled at him in an attempted to reassure him that everything would work out as it should, he disappeared and the little girl appeared once more. His brown hair was replaced by fine white blonde curls that framed her head and that Jemma could almost feel the silkiness on her fingertips. His grey eyes were replaced by eyes so blue and so much like Fitz’s that they almost brought a sob to her chest. And yet, the saddest thing was, rather than the look of amazement that Deke had, this time the little girl – _Alya_ her brain whispered as if letting her in on the most valuable secret in the whole world - appeared so sad as if she had said goodbye to someone she loved dearly.

 _Alya_. Oh Alya, her love. Her Love. Jemma wanted to reach out her arms to pick her up, cradle her tightly to her chest and promise her that everything would be alright, but as she moved to reach out to her, she felt Enoch’s tool pierce the back of her neck, her eyes involuntarily closing at the sensation.

_Mama!_

And then she blinked.

Rolling her shoulders and her head to get rid of the odd sensation of repositioning DIANA, she smiled over at Deke. She knew how to fix the time drive and they had a lot of work to do if they wanted to get the Zephyr fixed in time to make the next jump.

However, as she walked back to the Command Room explaining everything that needed to happen in order to make the Zephyr time jump worthy, she couldn’t help but feel a phantom pain of loss. She knew DIANA was created to protect Fitz and keep her from remembering where he was in case the Chronicoms ever captured her. Yet, there was something more to the device, something even more important than needing to protect Fitz. Something she was willing to risk everything for. Something, someone, worth risking everything for. Her _everything_.

It hurt trying to force her brain to remember, and the implant prevented her from remembering whatever it was that she had forgotten. But she felt hopeful.

She couldn’t help but feel hopeful. She had a renewed sense of hope and faith that they would succeed. That they would stop the Chronicoms, protect SHIELD, be able to live their lives without the threat of Hydra, “the true SHIELD,” the Chronicoms, or whatever else the universe decided to throw at them, and that she would be reunited with Fitz, wherever, whenever he was. They’d finally settle down in Perthshire in that beautiful cottage they had bought years ago with the lab she had designed. And there would vibrant green grass and trees, the crystal blue sky and flowers beyond belief. There would be space to run and dance and be a child. It would be home, a place for them and whoever else the universe brought to join them. She knew it was a dream, but she had hope that one day it would come true. Because if she didn’t have hope, what was she fighting for?

* * *

_Mama! Look! I can fly the Zephyr just like May!_

_And just what are you going to do flying such a great big plane?_

_Go back in time and save everyone just like you, Mama! Then you won’t have to say goodbye._

\----

_Mama, what’s that star’s name?_

_Oh my Love, that’s Theta Serpentis. Do you remember the name of the brightest star of the constellation?_

_Alya, Mama. Like me!_

_That’s right, sweet one. Just like you my Love._

\----

_Mama, Daddy says that there are places with real monkeys, just like Flo. Can we go one day?_

_Of course, my Love, one day. I promise._

\----

_Mama, Mama, Mama. Don’t go. Please, don’t go. Please!_

_Oh my Love, I have to. But I’ll be back. I’ll be back with your Aunt Daisy, Uncle Mack, Auntie Yo-yo, May and Deke before you know it. You’ll hardly know I’m gone. You’ll go to sleep and I’ll be there when you wake up._

_But Mama…_

_You’ll be a good girl for your daddy and do everything he asks?_

_Of course, Mama. I love you._

_I love you, Alya. I love you._

\----

_Mama! Please Mama, one last story._

_Oh, alright. One last story and then it’s off to bed._

_Okay. Tell me a story about this one, Mama._

_Of course. There once were two young children. Geniuses, some might call them, but children who thought they were the only ones like them, lonely and looking for a friend. They went to a special school where they could learn to their hearts’ content… But the girl longed for adventure and to see the world so when the offer came, she managed to convince her best friend to join her… They faced all sorts of challenges, but they came through each and every time, because they loved each other… And when they were faced with their biggest challenge, now a man, the boy’s friend spirited both of them away to work on a device which could save the world… But while they were there, they were blessed with the best surprise possible…_

_A little girl!_

_Yes, Love, a little girl. Just like you._

_And they saved the world, Mama?_

_They tried, sweet one, the story’s not done yet._

_I know, Mama. But if boy and the girl are like you and Daddy, then of course they saved the world._

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so happy to be back in this world again. Memory loss and remembering are two sides of the same coin, so it was fun to explore that aspect again. I hope you enjoyed this little one shot and that you're having a lovely week. Stay safe and stay healthy and take care of yourself. 💙
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own anything in association with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.


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